System and Method for Presenting Information About an Object on a Portable Electronic Device

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for enabling a portable electronic device to retrieve information about an object when the object&#39;s symbology, e.g., a barcode, is detected. According to one embodiment a method is providing in which symbology associated with an object is detected and decoded to obtain a decode string. The decode string is sent to one or more visual detection applications for processing, wherein the one or more visual detection applications reside on the portable electronic device, and receiving a first amount of information about the object from the one or more visual detection applications. The method also includes sending the decode string to a remote server for processing and receiving a second amount of information about the object from the remote server. The first amount of information is combined with the second amount of information to obtain cumulative information which is displayed on the portable electronic device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation patent application and claimspriority under the laws and rules of the United States, including 35 USC§120, to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/868,071 filed on Apr. 22,2013 which is a continuation patent application and claims priorityunder the laws and rules of the United States, including 35 USC §120, toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/170,810 filed on Jun. 28, 2011resulting in U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,752 issued on Apr. 23, 2013 which is acontinuation patent application and claims priority under the laws andrules of the United States, including 35 USC §120, to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/882,616 filed on Sep. 15, 2010 resulting in U.S.Pat. No. 7,992,773 issued on Aug. 9, 2011. The contents of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/868,071, U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/170,810, U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,752, U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/882,616 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,992,773 are herein incorporated byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates generally to portable electronic devices,and more particularly, to systems and methods for enabling portableelectronic devices to present information about a selected object.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is increasingly common for individuals to own and carry portableelectronic devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants(PDAs), etc. Many of these devices are capable of providing fullyfunctional computer processing incorporating cellular communication andnetwork data communication. Examples include various Windows™ Pocket PCdevices, which have an operating system created by Microsoft Corporationof Redmond, Washington. Other examples include various mobile phonedevices, some of which have built-in cameras, scanning devices, andother types of imaging devices. Still other portable digital devicesinclude portable media players from Creative Media of Singapore, Samsungof South Korea, Archos, Inc. of Irvine, Calif., and Apple Computers,Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Additionally, Sony of New York and Japanmanufacture a portable game playing device called the Sony PSP™(PlayStation Portable).

Increasingly, many of these portable electronic devices include means oftransmitting and receiving digital data. Various communicationstechnologies are frequently built into these devices. Examples ofportable communicating devices include mobile phones which employ GSM,CDMA, W-CDMA, and FOMA technology, among other standards, to send andreceive data in addition to handling voice communications. Many of theportable media devices also include transmission capabilities includingWi-Fi (IEEE 802.11a, b, g and x among others), Bluetooth™, infrared,etc. to allow the user to transmit and receive digital data overrelatively short distances. The Sony PSP™ device, for example, includesWi-Fi (i.e., IEEE 802.11b) to transmit and receive digital data.

Many portable electronic devices are configured to contain variousapplications, which may be installed during manufacture and/or may bedownloaded by the user. Examples of these applications includee-commerce applications, word processing, movie theater locatingapplications, games, e-mail programs, GPS navigation software, medicalinformation, weather applications, etc. Examples of the portableelectronic devices that contain both applications and imaging systemsinclude Apple Computer's IPhone, Google's Droid, and various mobiledevices from Motorola.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods are provided for allowing a user to utilize aportable electronic device to retrieve information about an object inresponse to the portable electronic device detecting symbology, e.g., abarcode, associated with the object. Among various implementations, oneembodiment of a method is provided in which symbology associated with anobject is detected and the symbology is decoded to obtain a decodestring. The method includes sending the decode string to one or morevisual detection applications for processing, where the one or morevisual detection applications reside on the portable electronic device,and receiving a first amount of information about the object from theone or more visual detection applications. The method also includessending the decode string to a remote server for processing andreceiving a second amount of information about the object from theremote server. The first amount of information is combined with thesecond amount of information to obtain cumulative information and thecumulative information is displayed on a display device associated withthe portable electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system enabling communication among a number ofcomponents;

FIG. 2A is a front view of the portable electronic device illustrated inFIG. 1, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B is a rear view of the portable electronic device of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of various modules included in the portableelectronic device illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B, according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of various modules included in the serverillustrated in FIG. 1, according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of various modules included in the symbologymanagement module illustrated in FIG. 3, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of a server forretrieving information about an object;

FIGS. 7A through 7C collectively illustrate a flow diagram of a methodof a portable electronic device for presenting information of an object,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedhereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. In thefollowing description, well-known functions or constructions are notdescribed in detail to avoid obscuring the present disclosure inunnecessary detail.

Systems and methods are provided for enabling portable electronicdevices to gather information about a selected object and present theinformation on a display device. Using any applicable visual detectiondevice (e.g., a camera, scanner, or other device) on the portableelectronic device, the user may select an object by scanning orcapturing an image of symbology (e.g., barcodes) associated with theobject. The object may be an article of commerce, product, service, orany item associated with various types of symbology.

Many types of detection systems are available to enable a user to selectan object. One such system may be an image capture device containing acharge couple device (CCD) or camera, where the user may scan or take apicture of symbology (e.g., a barcode) placed on or associated with anobject. Portable devices (e.g., IPhone from Apple, Android from HTC,etc.) may include decoding software to be used to decode the scannedbarcode symbology. In a further embodiment, the object may contain RadioFrequency Identification (RFID) tags used to identify the object to areader device. Furthermore, if the portable electronic device containsan image capture device (e.g., a camera) and character recognitionsoftware, the user may take a picture of the object and the characterrecognition software may be used to decode the image and/or name of theobject.

When symbology has been detected according to the embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the portable electronic devices are configured tosend the symbology information to the appropriate applications residingon the portable electronic device. These applications are instructed todecode the symbology, if not already decoded by other applications onthe portable electronic device. The decode string representing thedecoded symbology may be used to determine the object associated withthe symbology and then gather information about that object.Furthermore, the decode string is sent to a server that is configured todecode symbology (if necessary), identify one or more objects associatedwith the symbology, retrieve information about the one or more objects,and send the information to the portable electronic device. The portableelectronic device may then combine the information from the differentsources and display the information to the user.

Some applications that may be downloaded to portable electronic devicesinclude symbology scanning and/or decoding programs. Examples ofapplications that allow scanning include Neomedia's Neo Reader,Microsoft's Smart Tags, Android's Shop Savvy, Red Laser, ScanBuy, etc.However, when a user wishes to scan an object, the user must then selectan application on the portable electronic device that is capable ofaccomplishing the desired functions. Since a user may have dozens ofapplications loaded on his or her portable electronic device, it may bedifficult to select the appropriate application for executing thescanning functions. The present disclosure provides for the automaticselection of scanning application upon recognition of applicablesymbology. The embodiments of the present disclosure also allows for theselection of the best application or applications for scanning aparticular symbology when multiple scanning applications reside on thedevice. In some embodiments, the symbology managing application may beconfigured to recognize decodable symbology when the user is using theportable electronic device for a simple image capture process. In thissense, the device may allow the user to select whether or not thesymbology is to be decoded.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, variousportable devices already owned by many customers can be enhanced withsoftware applications to enable information retrieval procedures asdescribed in the present disclosure. The portable electronic device mayuse any suitable communications protocols including but not limited toWiFi (a, b, c d, n, x), cellular communications such as GSM, CDMA, FOMA,etc., infrared communications, cabled communications, Bluetoothcommunications, satellite communications, etc.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system10 in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure.The communication system 10 in this embodiment includes a server 12, astorage medium 14, a portable electronic device 16, one or moresatellites 18, one or more satellite dishes 20, one or more mobileterminal communications towers 22, one or more Wi-Fi towers 24, each ofwhich may be configured to transmit and/or receive signals to the otherelements of the communication system 10 via a communication network 26.For example, the portable electronic device 16 may be configured tocommunicate with the server 12 via the communication network 26 totransfer cellular voice signals, data signals, or other types ofsignals.

The portable electronic device 16 and server 12 may be connected to thecommunication network 26 (e.g., the Internet) by any suitable means,such as, for example, hardwired and/or wireless connections, such asdial-up, hardwired, cable, DSL, satellite, cellular, PCS, wirelesstransmission (e.g., 802.11a/b/g), etc. It is to be appreciated that thecommunication network 26 may be a local area network (LAN), wide areanetwork (WAN), the Internet, or any other type of network that couples aplurality of computers to enable various modes of communication vianetwork messages. Furthermore, the server 12 may communicate usingvarious protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/InternetProtocol (TCP/IP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Hypertext TransferProtocol (HTTP), etc. and secure protocols such as Internet ProtocolSecurity Protocol (IPSec), Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP),Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Protocol, etc. The server 12 may access thestorage medium 14, which is configured to store a database containinginformation about a number of objects, such as tables identifyingobjects by their respective decoded symbology, information about thespecifications, cost, features, and other details about the objects, andother information and data.

According to some embodiments, the objects of interest may refer toproducts and/or services sold at various stores. As will be appreciatedfrom the description below, a unique identification code is associatedwith each product and/or service and may take many forms, such as abarcode number, a UPC number, an alphanumeric number assigned to theproduct, a name of the article (e.g., “Batman Begins DVD”), etc. Theidentification codes may be attached to or printed on the products or insome other way associated with the products. According to otherembodiments, the products or items may refer to any type of object forwhich the user wishes to receive information, identifiable by a uniqueidentification code.

The user may utilize the portable electronic device 16 to obtain avisual representation of an object 28 or portion of the object 28. Forexample, if the object 28 includes a barcode 30, the portable electronicdevice 16 may be configured to scan the barcode 30 and decode thebarcode to acquire an identification code of the object. In someembodiments, the portable electronic device 16 may be configured tocapture an image of the barcode 30 and decode the barcode to acquire theassociated identification code of the object. Using standard andexisting computer processing power and software solutions such asAttrasoft Image recognition software, or optical character recognitionsoftware (OCR software such as OmniPage or ReadIris), the image or nameof the object may be decoded to determine the identity of the object.

In another embodiment, the user may enter an identification code of theobject or the name of the object via a user interface, if the portableelectronic device 16 contains a user interface allowing user keyboardinput. In some implementations, the user may speak the name of theproduct into the portable electronic device 16 using a microphone andthe audio signals may in turn be processed into digital form via speechrecognition software.

In a further embodiment, some objects may contain Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) tags. The portable digital device 16 may containan RFID reader to resolve the identity of the product. In anotherembodiment, the name or identification code of an object may bebroadcast via the Wi-Fi tower 24 over a predetermined range.Furthermore, the name or identification code of an object may bebroadcast from another portable electronic device (e.g., a gamingdevice, mobile phone, etc.). Here, a user may approach the otherportable electronic device having an application stored in memory orcurrently being used. The other portable electronic device may beconfigured to automatically broadcast the identification code of theobject (i.e., application) or the user of the other portable electronicdevice may initiate a transfer of the identification code, e.g., via aninfrared port or other wireless port, to the first user.

The portable electronic device 16 may use the resources with the deviceitself to obtain information about the identity of the object and otherdetails of the object. Also, once the product is identified, theportable electronic device 16 may use communications protocols includingbut not limited to Wi-Fi (a, b, c d, n, x), mobile phone communicationssuch as GSM, CDMA, FOMA, etc., infrared communications, cabledcommunications, Bluetooth communications, satellite communications, totransmit the identification code to the server 12 on the global computernetwork (GCN), e.g., the Internet. It is to be appreciated that theportable electronic device 16 may use any one or a combination ofprotocols to transmit the identification code to the server 12. Forexample, the portable electronic device 16 may employ atelecommunication protocol to transmit the identification code via thecommunication module 26. In another embodiment, the portable electronicdevice 16 may communicate to the server 12 via the same Wi-Fi tower 24that broadcasts a list of objects for which information is available,e.g., a hot spot in a retail location.

The server 12 may be maintained by a vendor associated with the object.For example, in the case of seeking information about a Warner Brothers™DVD movie, the server 12 may be a Warner Brothers server connected to aWarner Brothers website. However, the server 12 may also be a vendor notassociated or even competing with the object. For example, if theproduct is a Warner Brothers™ DVD movie, the server 12 may be ane-commerce site such as Amazon.com that offers DVD movies from manycompanies including Warner Brothers.

FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of the portable electronic device 16 shownin FIG. 1. According to various implementations, the portable electronicdevice 16 may be configured to transmit and receive wirelesscommunication signals. As illustrated in this embodiment, the portableelectronic device 16 includes various electrical components disposedwithin a generally rectangular housing 40. A display device 42 isprovided for displaying text, images, video, and other visual content,such as movies, animation, etc. A speaker 44 is provided for producingaudio (e.g., voice, music, soundtracks associated with a video, or othertypes of audio content). An audio port 46 may be configured to receive aplug or connector from a headphone, speaker system, stereo system, etc.,to stream the audio to an external device. It is to be appreciated thatwhen the external device is connected to the audio port 46, the speaker44 may be disabled. Input means 48 may include a plurality of buttons 50for inputting data and navigating through a plurality of menus. A touchscreen overlaid upon the display device 42 may also be coupled to theinput module for facilitating user input. The portable electronic device16 further includes a memory port 52 for storing a plurality of contentand a transmission system (not shown) for transmitting/receiving dataand/or content to another device, e.g., a personal computer, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a server residing on the Internet, etc.Optionally, the portable electronic device 16 may include a microphone54 for acquiring audio from the user of the device to input data. Insome embodiments, the portable electronic device 16 may include ascanning device 56. An image capture device 58 may be located on a backside of the portable electronic device 16 as shown in FIG. 2B.

Referring to FIG. 3, various components of the portable electronicdevice 16 of FIG. 2 are described. In FIG. 3, the portable electronicdevice 16 contains a bus 60 that interconnects a display module 62(related to the display device 42), an input module 64 (related to inputmeans 48), a storage module 66 (related to memory port 52), atransmission module 68, a computer processing module 70, a capturemodule 72 (related to image capture device 58), a scanning module 74(related to scanning device 56), other visual detection modules 76, acommunication module 78, a symbology management module 80, and anencryption module 82.

The computer processing module 70 (e.g., a microprocessor) may usecomputer software instructions and conventional computer processingpower to interact and organize the traffic flow between the variousother modules. It is to be understood that the present disclosure may beimplemented in various forms of hardware, software, firmware, specialpurpose processors, or a combination thereof. The bus 60 couples thevarious components shown in FIG. 3 and may be any of several types ofbus structures (e.g., a memory bus, memory controller, a peripheral bus,a local bus, etc.) using any of a variety of bus architectures. Theportable electronic device 16 also includes an operating system andmicro instruction code preferably residing in read only memory (ROM) ofthe storage module 66. The various processes and functions describedherein may either be part of the micro instruction code or part of anapplication program (or a combination thereof) which is executed via theoperating system. Exemplary operating systems include but are notlimited to SymbianOS, Windows Mobile/Windows CE, Palm OS, Linux,Blackberry OS, BREW, etc., which have been developed for mobilecomputing applications and can handle both data computing andcommunication applications, e.g., voice communications.

It is to be further understood that because some of the constituentdevice components and method steps depicted in the accompanying figuresmay be implemented in software, the actual connections between thedevice components (or the process steps) may differ depending upon themanner in which the present disclosure is programmed. Given theteachings of the present disclosure provided herein, one of ordinaryskill in the related art will be able to contemplate these and similarimplementations or configurations of the present disclosure.

The computer processing module 70 may further include, in addition to amicroprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP) for decoding storedaudio, video and photo files to be played on the portable electronicdevice 16. As is known in the art, the DSP may include several knowndecompression algorithms for decompressing stored media content, e.g., aMP3 file. The device 16 of the present disclosure is configured tosupport various file types including but not limited to MicrosoftWindows Media Video files (.wmv), Microsoft Photo Story files (.asf),Microsoft Windows Media Audio files (.wma), MP3 audio files (.mp3), JPEGimage files (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif), MPEG movie files (.mpeg, .mpg,.mpe, .m1v, .mp2v .mpeg2), Microsoft Recorded TV Show files (.dvr-ms),Microsoft Windows Video files (.avi) and Microsoft Windows Audio files(.wav).

The display module 62 is configured to display digital information suchas video files, image files, text files, etc. The display module 62 (andany corresponding display devices) may be configured in any suitableform, including, for example, Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD), Lightemitting diode displays (LED), Cathode Ray Tube Displays (CRT) or anyother type of display currently existing or existing in the future. Thedisplay module 62 may also include an audio output device, e.g., speaker44, audio port 46, etc., allowing the user to also hear audio output,e.g., audio associated with a video, a MP3 file, etc.

The input module 64 is configured to either receive user instructionsvia text input by the way of buttons 50, a standard keyboard interfacecoupled to the portable electronic device 16, or a character recognitioncapture device which translates user text input into alphanumericcharacters. Preferably, the character recognition device may be a touchscreen which overlays the display device 42 and text may be entered viaa pen-like stylus. Such input devices are standard and currentlyavailable on many electronic devices including portable digitalassistants (PDAs) and cellular telephones. Optionally, microphone 54 maybe further coupled to the input module 64 for capturing any audioinformation spoken by the user and the input module 64 may furtherinclude an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter for converting the spokenaudio information into a digital format. Furthermore, the input module64 may include a voice recognition processor that translates the digitalhuman voice into alpha numeric characters for user input. The user mayutilize the input module 64 to enter data, for example, to requestinformation about merchandise, initiate a purchasing application, etc.

The storage module 66 includes internal storage memory (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM)) or removable memory (e.g., magnetic storagememory), optical storage memory (e.g., various types of CD and DVDmedia), solid-state storage memory (e.g., a CompactFlash card, a MemoryStick, SmartMedia card, MultiMediaCard (MMC), SD (Secure Digital)memory, etc.), or any other memory storage that exists currently or willexist in the future. The storage module 66 may store applications thatmay be run on the portable electronic device 16. For example, someapplications may include one or more image capture applications, one ormore scanning applications, and other detection (e.g., visual detection)applications that are configured to detect symbology. As described withrespect to FIG. 5, these applications may be managed by the symbologymanagement module 80.

The transmission module 68 enables the portable electronic device 16 totransmit or transfer information to other computing devices and toreceive information from other computing devices, e.g., digital mediafiles, codes to unlock downloaded media, encryption/decryption keys,etc. The transmission module 68 may perform its functionality byhardwired and/or wireless connectivity. The hardwire connection mayinclude but is not limited to hard wire cabling, e.g., parallel orserial cables, USB cable, Firewire (1394 connectivity) cables, etc., andthe appropriate ports. Wireless connections may operate under anyvarious wireless protocols including but not limited to Bluetooth™interconnectivity, infrared connectivity, radio transmissionconnectivity including computer digital signal broadcasting andreception commonly referred to as Wi-Fi or 802.11.X (where x denotes thetype of transmission), satellite transmission or any other type ofcommunication protocols or systems currently existing or to be developedin the future for wirelessly transmitting data. The transmission module68 may compress and encode the encrypted information for transmissionusing any suitable wireless communication technology. In one embodiment,antenna ANT is coupled to the transmission module 68 for extending thewireless transmission range of the portable electronic device 16.

The capture module 72 may be associated with the image capture device 58to capture an image desired by the user in digital form, e.g., an imageof a product, a barcode, etc. The capture module 72 may include an imagesensor, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and a digital signalprocessor (DSP). Referring to FIG. 2B, when a user desires to capture animage, a lens of the image capture device 56 may be aimed at a subjectof the image and is used in conjunction with display module 62 forpositioning a subject of the image in lieu of a viewfinder. Light isallowed to enter through the lens and shine on the image sensor, e.g., acharge-coupled device (CCD) or complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS). The capture module 72 may include millions of photo-sensors,e.g., pixels, wherein each pixel absorbs the light and transforms thelight into an electric charge proportional to the intensity of light.Each charge is transmitted to an A/D converter where the charge isconverted into a digital value representing the color the pixel will be,e.g., representing different intensities of red, green and blue. Thedigital values are then passed to the digital signal processor whichenhances the image, compresses it and then stores it in a digital fileformat in the storage module 66.

In other embodiments, the portable electronic device 16 further includesa scanning module 74 for scanning symbology (e.g., a barcode) on anobject or product. The scanning module 74 in conjunction with thescanning device 56 may contain a light source, e.g., LED, and aphotocell coupled to the computer processing module 70, oralternatively, includes a separate decoder engine that decodes the datareceived by the photocell before sending it to the computer processingmodule 70. Knowledge of the art reveals that many different types ofscanners currently exist and the inventor realizes that the type ofscanner would depend upon the type of symbology that is utilized for theparticular objects. The symbology may be in any form currently practicedin the art including barcodes (e.g., UPC, EAN, PDF417, etc.),photosymbols, standard or specialized text, etc., or any future type ofsymbology.

It is to be appreciated that the capture module 72 may also be used inconjunction with the scanning module 74 to read symbology associatedwith an object or product. Here, the capture module 72 acquires an imageof the symbology and the scanning module 74 may further include adigital signal processor executing an algorithm for deciphering ordecoding the symbology from the captured image. The use of an imagesensor to read symbology, e.g., a barcode, is known in the art andsystems employing such technology are commercially available from SymbolTechnologies of New York. The portable electronic device 16 may alsoinclude other visual detection modules 76, such as additional cameras,additional scanners, video cameras, infrared sensors, etc. In someembodiments, the other visual detection devices 76 may include sensorsthat sense light outside the visual spectrum, e.g., RF sensors, etc.

The symbology management module 80 is configured to obtain data from anysuitable visual detection system incorporated in the portable electronicdevice 16. If the portable electronic device 16 includes an imagecapture system containing an image capture device and image capturesoftware applications, the symbology management module 80 may beconfigured to recognize symbology within the captured image. If theportable electronic device 16 includes a scanning system containing ascanning device and scanning software applications, the symbologymanagement module 80 may be configured to detect symbology of thescanned object. Other visual detection systems contained in the portableelectronic device 16 may be configured to visually detect symbology,which may be processed by the symbology management module 80. Adescription of the symbology management module 80 with respect tosymbology detection applications is provided below with respect to FIG.5.

The portable electronic device 16 may also include an encryption module82. The encryption module 82 may be configured to use conventional codeencryption algorithms currently in use or that will be in use in thefuture such as symmetric-key algorithms, e.g., DES, Triple-DES,Blowfish, RC2, RC4, RC5, etc, and asymmetric-key algorithms, e.g.,Diffie-Hellman, RSA, ElGamal, etc., to decrypt locked digital mediacontent files that are stored in the storage module 66. The encryptionmodule 82 may also encrypt user information before it is transmitted toanother device or server.

In one embodiment, the portable electronic device 16 according to theprinciples of the present disclosure may be embodied as a mobile phoneincluding the modules and architecture illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Inthis embodiment, microphone 54 is further coupled to the communicationmodule 78 for encoding a user's speech to be transmitted via antenna ANTusing CDMA, PCS, GSM or any other known wireless communicationtechnology. The user may enter phone numbers to be dialed via the touchscreen, or alternatively, as is known in the mobile phone art, the inputmeans 48 of the portable electronic device 16 may include a full QWERTYkeyboard as an input module to enter text information. In addition toproducing audio from audio or multimedia content, speaker 44 may becoupled to the antenna ANT and a decoder for receiving and decodingvoice communication from another mobile phone.

It is to be appreciated that the communication module 78 may include asingle integrated circuit chip to perform data transfer and voicecommunications or a single module including a separate data transferchip, e.g., a WiFi transceiver, and a separate voice communication chip,e.g., a CDMA chip. In one embodiment, the communication module 78operates on the wireless GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) dataprotocol, a 3G protocol such as W-CDMA, CDMA2000 and TD-SCDMA, a 4Gprotocol or other ultra-broadband access protocol LTE Advanced standardsfor the 3GPP family, IEEE 802.16m standard (i.e., WiMAX), etc. The GPRS,3G, and 4G protocols have the ability to carry both voice and data overthe same service.

It is to be appreciated that the portable electronic device 16 describedabove is an exemplary device and may include all or a portion of themodules described above. Furthermore, it is to be appreciated thatvarious types of portable electronic devices (e.g., mobile phones,personal digital assistant (PDA), digital media playback device, etc.)may be used in accordance with the principles of the systems and methodsof the present disclosure described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of various modulesassociated with the server 12 shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, theserver 12 includes a computer processing module 84, a storage module 86,a transmission module 88, a communication module 90, an encryptionmodule 92, a database management module 94, an object identifying module96, and an information retrieving module 98, each interconnected via abus 100.

The computer processing module 84 (e.g., a microprocessor) may usecomputer software instructions and conventional computer processingpower to interact and organize the traffic flow between the variousother modules. It is to be understood that the modules of the server 12may be implemented in various forms of hardware, software, firmware,special purpose processors, or a combination thereof. The computerprocessing module 70 may further include, in addition to amicroprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), which may includeseveral known decompression algorithms for decompressing stored mediacontent, e.g., a MP3 file. The server 12 of the present disclosure maybe configured to support various file types, such as those used by theportable electronic device 16 or other devices of the system 10.

The storage module 86 may include internal storage memory (e.g., RAM),non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM), removable memory (e.g., magneticstorage memory), optical storage memory (e.g., various types of CD andDVD media), solid-state storage memory (e.g., a CompactFlash, MemoryStick, SmartMedia, MMC, SD memory, etc.), or any other memory storagethat exists currently or will exist in the future.

The transmission module 88 enables the server 12 to transmit or transferinformation to other computing devices and to receive information fromother computing devices, e.g., digital media files, codes to unlockdownloaded media, encryption/decryption keys, etc. The transmissionmodule 88 may perform its functionality by hardwired and/or wirelessconnectivity.

The communication module 90 may include a single integrated circuit chipto perform data transfer and voice communications or a single moduleincluding a separate data transfer chip and a separate voicecommunication chip. In some embodiments, the communication module 90 mayoperate on the wireless GPRS data protocol, a 3G protocol, a 4Gprotocol, or other protocol having the ability to carry both voice anddata over the same service.

The encryption module 92 may be configured to use conventional codeencryption algorithms currently in use or that will be in use in thefuture, such as symmetric-key algorithms and asymmetric-key algorithmsto decrypt locked digital media content files that are stored in thestorage module 86. The encryption module 92 may also encrypt userinformation transmitted from a user device or other server.

The database management module 94 may be configured to manage thecontents of the storage medium 14. Particularly, the database managementmodule 94 may retrieve data from storage medium 14 or other databasesrelated to information about a variety of objects. In response to aninformation request from a user device (e.g., portable electronic device16), the server 12 may utilize the database management module 94 tofulfill the information request by retrieving information about thespecific object or objects. This information may then be transmitted tothe user device.

The object identifying module 96 is configured to receive symbology or adecode string from decoded symbology. When this is received, the objectidentifying module 96 is configured to identify the object or objectsthat are associated with the symbology or decode string. The objectidentifying module 96 may be configured to utilize the databasemanagement module 94 to lookup information in a database (e.g., storagemedium 14) that contains the relationships between objects (e.g.,products) and corresponding symbology or character strings that may beobtained by decoding the symbology.

After the object of interest is identified by the object identifyingmodule 96, the information retrieving module 98 is configured toretrieve information about the specific object or objects. Theinformation retrieving module 98 may also utilize the databasemanagement module 94 to retrieve information from one or more databases.The information retrieving module 98 may access various resourcesavailable via the communication network 26 to obtain the neededinformation pertaining to the object or objects.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a portion of the storagemodule 66 shown in FIG. 3. For example, several applications may bestored in the storage module 66, including, among others, the symbologymanagement module 80 shown in FIG. 3, an image capture application 110,a scanning application 112, and other visual detection applications 114.According to some embodiments, the other visual detection applications114 may include detection applications that detect in a way other thanvisually.

The image capture application 110 may be configured to operate with animage capture device (e.g., camera). In some embodiments, the imagecapture application 110 may run in the background while otherapplications are running on the portable electronic device 16. Whilerunning in the background, the image capture application 110 may beconfigured to automatically search for recognizable symbology. Forexample, the image capture application 110 may be configured to searchfor bar codes. The symbology management module 80 may control theseoperations such that when symbology is detected automatically, thesymbology management module 80 may prompt the user to determine if he orshe wishes that the portable electronic device 16 proceeds with thedecoding of the symbology and retrieving information about an objectassociated with the symbology.

According to various implementations, the image capture application 110may be configured to respond to a user's prompt or trigger to capture asingle image. The symbology management module 80 may be configured inthe case of this typical image capture process to automatically searchfor and decode any symbology that may exist in the captured image.Again, the symbology management module 80 may prompt the user as towhether he or she wishes to pursue the decoding of the symbology, if itexists, and retrieving information about an object associated with thesymbology.

The scanning application 112 may operate in a way that is similar tothat of the image capture application 110 except that the scanningapplication 112 responds to images obtained by a scanning procedureinstead of an image capture procedure. The symbology management module80 may continue analyzing scanned data to determine if symbology isdetected, either during a user-initiated trigger or when detectedautomatically while the scanning application 112 is running in thebackground. The symbology management module 80 may also operate in asimilar way with respect to the other visual detection applications 114based at least on the particular formats, protocols, functions, etc. ofthe other types of detection devices, which may be incorporated in theportable electronic device 16 and which may be capable of sensing anytype of symbology.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a method that may beperformed by a server, such as the server 12 described with respect toFIGS. 1 and 4. The method includes receiving a decode string from aportable electronic device (e.g., device 16), as indicated in block 120.In some embodiments, the method may include receiving encoded symbologyinformation and then decoding this information to obtain the decodestring. As indicated in block 122, the method includes identifying theobject or objects associated with the decode string. For example, theobject may be an article or commerce. From the identity of theobject(s), the method includes retrieving information about theobject(s), as indicated in block 124. For example, information aboutvarious objects may be obtained from any database or resource available.When the information has been retrieved, the information is sent to theportable electronic device (block 126).

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C collectively form a flow diagram showing anembodiment of a method that may be performed by a portable electronicdevice, such as the portable electronic device 16 described with respectto FIGS. 1-3 and 5. In this embodiment, the method includes allowing auser to select preferences as indicated in block 130. Default presetsmay initially be provided, but the user may choose to select otherpreferences at any time as needed. As indicated in block 132, one ormore visual detection systems are run in the background of the device,where other programs or systems are given priority with respect toprocessing steps over the one or more visual detection systems, unlessof course one of the visual detection systems is currently being used.The background systems may include image capture systems (e.g., camerasystems), scanning systems, or other detection systems capable ofdetecting symbology.

In decision block 134, the method includes determining whether a triggerfrom a visual detection system is initiated by the user. For example, ifa detection system is already running, the user may initiate an imagecapture, scan, or other input operation (e.g., by pressing a button totake a picture with a camera on the portable electronic device). If thesystem does not receive a trigger, the method proceeds to decision block136, which determines whether or not decodable symbology isautomatically detected. In some embodiments, the automatic detection ofdecodable symbology may involve detection by any visual detection systemrunning in the background. If no user-initiated trigger is detected inblock 134 and no decodable symbology is detected in block 136, themethod loops back to decision block 134 until an applicable image isdetected.

If a background application detects decodable symbology according todecision block 136, the method proceeds to block 138. In block 138, theuser is alerted that an automatically detected image contains some typeof symbology. As indicated in decision block 140, it is determinedwhether or not the user wishes that the symbology is decoded. If not,the method skips the remaining steps and comes to an end. If symbologyis to be decoded, the method goes to decision block 142, which indicatesthat it is determined whether or not a visual detection application hasbeen pre-selected. If so, the method proceeds to block 144 (FIG. 7B).Otherwise, the method goes to block 160 (FIG. 7C).

As indicated by block 144, shown in FIG. 7B, the detected symbology issent to one or more pre-selected visual detection applications fordecoding and information retrieval. The pre-selected visual detectionapplications may have been selected based on the selected preferencesmade with respect to block 130. The visual detection applications and/orrelated decoding software may be configured to decode the detectedsymbology to obtain a decode string. Also, the applications may beconfigured to obtain information about one or more objects associatedwith the decode string decoded from the detected symbology. As indicatedin block 146, the method includes receiving and storing information fromthe visual detection application(s).

According to block 148, the decode string is also sent to a remoteserver (e.g., server 12). Later, the method receives information fromthe remote server as indicated in block 150. The information from theserver may be related to information about one or more objectsidentifiable by the decode string. As indicated in block 152, theinformation from the visual detection application(s) is combined withinformation from the remote server according to various implementations.At this point, the method includes displaying the information on adisplay screen of the portable electronic device.

While or after the information is displayed, the method also includesenabling the user to store the information if desired, as defined inblock 156. In addition, the user is given an option to run a purchasingapplication to enable the purchase of the object or objects if desired.This may also be performed while or after the information is displayed.Therefore, one advantage of displaying information for the user is toprovide appropriate data to inform the user of objects (e.g., products)that the user may consider purchasing. With the information, the usermay be able to make a more informed purchasing decision. After theinformation is displayed and stored (if desired) and one or more objectsare purchased (if desired), the method comes to an end.

When visual detection applications have not been pre-selected by theuser, as determined in decision block 142, the method jumps ahead toblock 160 as shown in FIG. 7C. In block 160, the symbology is decoded todetermine a category of the object. As indicated in block 162, themethod includes determining the appropriate visual detectionapplication(s) based on the object's category. According to decisionblock 164, it is determined whether or not multiple applications weredeemed to be appropriate. If not, the method goes to block 166, whichindicates that the decode string is sent to the one appropriateapplication for retrieving the information. If it is determined indecision block 164 that multiple applications are appropriate, themethod goes to block 168. As indicated in block 168, the user is enabledto select one or more of the applications. In block 170, the decodestring is sent to the selected application(s) for information retrieval.After the decode strings are sent off for information retrievalaccording to blocks 166 and 170, the method returns to block 146, whichinvolves receiving and storing the information from the visual detectionapplication(s) and the following processes as discussed above.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tocertain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure asdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: capturing a digital imageusing a digital image capturing device that is part of an electronicdevice; detecting symbology associated with the digital image using anelectronic device; decoding the symbology to obtain a decode stringusing one or more visual detection applications residing on theelectronic device; sending the decode string to a remote server forprocessing; receiving information about the digital image from theremote server wherein the information is based on the decode string;displaying the information on a display device associated with theelectronic device.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising enablinga user of the electronic device to select one or more presets before thesymbology is detected.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the presetsinclude at least one of a selection of one or more visual detectionapplications to handle scanning operations, a selection of one or morevisual detection applications to handle image capture operations, amaximum number of applications configured to receive a decode string, anamount of information to be displayed, the type of information to bedisplayed, and e-commerce options.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein oneor more visual detection systems are configured to run in the backgroundwith respect to other systems associated with the electronic device, thevisual detection systems comprising the one or more visual detectionapplications and one or more visual detection devices, the one or morevisual detection devices configured to detect the symbology associatedwith the object.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or morevisual detection systems are configured to automatically detect thesymbology.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: alerting theuser when an image containing symbology has been detected; asking theuser if decoding of the symbology is desired; and receiving a reply fromthe user.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the symbologycomprises detecting the symbology in response to a user initiatedtrigger of a visual detection device.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinsending the decode string to one or more visual detection applicationsfor processing and sending the decode string to a remote server forprocessing further comprises: instructing the one or more visualdetection applications and remote server to identify the objectassociated with the decode string; and instructing the one or morevisual detection applications and remote server to retrieve informationabout the object.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises: analyzing the decode string to determine a category of theobject; and selecting one or more appropriate applications to processthe decode string when the one or more visual detection applications arenot pre-selected, the selection based in part on the category of theobject.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:determining if multiple applications are deemed to be appropriate toprocess the decode string; and enabling the user to select one or moreapplications when multiple applications are deemed to be appropriate.11. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the user to storethe information.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising providinge-commerce options to allow the user to proceed to a purchasing processfor purchasing the object, wherein the object is an article of commerce.13. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the informationabout the object with the digital image.
 14. The method of claim 1,further comprising overlaying the information about the object whiledisplaying the digital image.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein visualsearch technology is used to decode the symbology.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, wherein both the digital image and the information associatedwith the digital image are displayed on the electronic device.
 17. Acomputer application stored on a computer-readable medium and executableby a processing device incorporated in an electronic device, thecomputer application comprising: logic adapted to capture a digitalimage using a digital image capturing device that is part of anelectronic device; logic adapted to detect symbology associated with anobject using one or more visual detection applications; logic adapted todecode the symbology to obtain a decode string using the one or morevisual detection applications; logic adapted to send the decode stringto a remote server for processing; logic adapted to receive a secondamount of information about the object based on the decode string fromthe remote server; logic adapted to display the information on a displaydevice associated with the electronic device.
 18. The computerapplication of claim 17, further comprising: logic adapted to enable auser of the electronic device to select one or more presets before thesymbology is detected, the presets including at least one of a selectionof one or more visual detection applications to handle scanningoperations, a selection of one or more visual detection applications tohandle image capture operations, a maximum number of applicationsconfigured to receive a decode string, an amount of information to bedisplayed, the type of information to be displayed, and e-commerceoptions.
 19. The computer application of claim 17, wherein the one ormore visual detection systems are configured to automatically detect thesymbology, the computer application further comprising: logic adapted toalert the user when an image containing symbology has been detected;logic adapted to ask the user if decoding of the symbology is desired;and logic adapted to receive a reply from the user.
 20. A symbologymanagement application comprising: receiving a digital image from adigital image capturing device; a symbology detecting module configuredto detect symbology associated with an object; a decoding moduleconfigured to decode the symbology to obtain a decode string; atransferring module configured to send the decode string to one or morevisual detection applications for processing, the one or more visualdetection applications residing on an electronic device; and aninformation storage module configured to receive information about theobject from the remote server, and provide the information to a displaydevice for display of the information.